Sharpe's Gold

One of the three, with an officer's sword jutting from beneath his cloak, nodded back. He seemed, like all of his kind, to be suspicious of any friendly gesture. He looked at their green Riflemen's jackets. 'There aren't supposed to be any Riflemen in this area.

Sharpe let the accusation go unanswered. If the provost thought they were deserters, then the provost was a fool. Deserters did not travel the open road in daylight, or wear uniforms, or stroll casually up to provosts. Sharpe and Harper, like the other eighteen Riflemen in the Company, had kept their old uniforms out of pride, preferring the dark green to the red of the line battalions.

The provost's eyes flicked between the two men. 'You have orders?

'The General wants to see us, sir. Harper spoke cheerfully.

A tiny smile came and went on the provost's face. 'You mean Lord Wellington wants to see you?

'As a matter of fact, yes.

Sharpe's voice had a warning in it, but the provost seemed oblivious. He was looking Sharpe up and down, letting his suspicions show. Sharpe's appearance was extraordinary. The green jacket, faded and torn, was worn over French cavalry overalls. On his feet were tall leather boots that had originally been bought in Paris by a Colonel of Napoleon's Imperial Guard. On his back, like most of his men, he carried a French pack, made of ox hide, and on his shoulder, though he was an officer, he slung a rifle. The officer's epaulettes had gone, leaving broken stitches, and the scarlet sash was stained and faded. Even Sharpe's sword, his other badge of rank, was irregular. As an officer of a Light Company he should have carried the curved sabre of the British Light Cavalry, but Richard Sharpe preferred the sword of the Heavy Cavalry, straight-bladed and ill balanced. Cavalrymen hated it; they claimed its weight made it impossible to parry swiftly, but Sharpe was six feet tall and strong enough to wield the thirty-five inches of ponderous steel with deceptive ease.

The provost officer was unsettled. 'What's your Regiment?

'We're the Light of the South Essex. Sharpe made his tone friendly.

The provost responded by spurring his horse forward so he could see down the street and watch Sharpe's men. There was no immediately apparent reason to hang anyone, so he looked back at the two men and his eyes stopped, with surprise, when they reached Harper's shoulder. The Irishman, with four inches more height than Sharpe, was a daunting sight at the best of times, but his weapons were even more irregular than Sharpe's big sword. Slung with his rifle was a brute of a gun — a seven-barrelled, squat menace. The provost pointed. 'What's that?

'Seven-barrelled gun, sir. Harper's voice was full of pride in his new weapon.

'Where did you get it?

'Christmas present, sir.

Sharpe gri

The provost sniffed. 'A Christmas present.

'I gave it to him, Sharpe said.

'And you are?

'Captain Richard Sharpe. South Essex. You?

The provost stiffened. 'Lieutenant Ayres, sir. The last word was spoken reluctantly.

'And where are you going, Lieutenant Ayres?

Sharpe was a

'Celorico, sir.

'Then have a good journey, Lieutenant.

Ayres nodded. 'I'll look round first, sir. If you don't mind.

Sharpe watched the three men ride down the street, the rain beading the wide, black rumps of the horses. 'I hope you're right, Sergeant.

'Right, sir?

'That there's nothing to loot.

The thought struck both together, a single instinct for trouble, and they began ru

Harper pulled up in front of the Company. 'Packs on!

There was a shout from behind the cottages. Sharpe turned. Lieutenant Knowles was at his elbow.

'What's happening, sir?

'Provost trouble. Bastards are throwing their weight around.

They were determined, he knew, to find something, and as Sharpe's eyes went down his ranks he had a sinking feeling that Lieutenant Ayres had succeeded. There should have been forty-eight men, three Sergeants, and the two officers, but one man was missing: Private Batten. Private bloody Batten, who was dragged by his hair from between the cottages by a triumphant provost.

'A looter, sir. Caught in the act. Ayres was smiling.

Batten, who grumbled incessantly, who moaned if it rained and made a fuss when it stopped because the sun was in his eyes. Private Batten, a one-man destroyer of flintlocks, who thought the whole world was conspiring to a

Sharpe looked up at Ayres. 'What was he looting, Lieutenant?

'This.

Ayres held up a scrawny chicken as if it were the Crown of England. Its neck had been well wrung, but the legs still jerked and scrabbled at the air. Sharpe felt the anger come inside him, not at the provosts but at Batten.

'I'll deal with him, Lieutenant.

Batten cringed away from his Captain.

Ayres shook his head. 'You misunderstand, sir. He was talking with silky condescension. 'Looters are hung, sir. On the spot, sir. As an example to others.

There was a muttering from the Company, broken by Harper's bellowed order for silence. Batten's eyes flicked left and right as if looking for an escape from this latest example of the world's injustice. Sharpe snapped at him. 'Batten!

'Sir?

'Where did you find the chicken?"

'It was in the field, sir. Honest. He winced as his hair was pulled. 'It was a wild chicken, sir.

There was a rustle of laughter from the ranks that Harper let go. Ayres snorted. 'A wild chicken. Dangerous beasts, eh, sir? He's lying. I found him in the cottage.

Sharpe believed him, but he was not going to give up. 'Who lives in the cottage, Lieutenant?

Ayres raised an eyebrow. 'Really, sir, I have not exchanged cards with every slum in Portugal. He turned to his men. 'String him up.

'Lieutenant Ayres. The tone of Sharpe's voice stopped any movement in the street. 'How do you know the cottage is inhabited?

'Look for yourself.

'Sir.

Ayres swallowed. 'Sir.

Sharpe raised his voice. 'Are there people there, Lieutenant?

'No, sir. But it's lived in.

'How do you know? The village is deserted. You can't steal a chicken from nobody.

Ayres thought about his reply. The village was deserted, the inhabitants gone away from the French attack, but absence was not a relinquishing of ownership. He shook his head. 'The chicken is Portuguese property, sir. He turned again. 'Hang him!

'Halt! Sharpe bellowed and again movement stopped. 'You're not going to hang him, so just go your way.

Ayres swivelled back to Sharpe. 'He was caught red-handed and the bastard will hang. Your men are probably a pack of bloody thieves and they need an example and, by God, they will get one! He raised himself in his stirrups and shouted at the Company. 'You will see him hang! And if you steal, then you will hang too!

A click interrupted him. He looked down and the anger in his face was replaced by astonishment. Sharpe held his Baker rifle, cocked, so that the barrel was pointing at Ayres.

'Let him go, Lieutenant.

'Have you gone mad?

Ayres had gone white, had sagged back into his saddle.

Sergeant Harper, instinctively, came and stood beside Sharpe and ignored the hand that waved him away. Ayres stared at the two men. Both tall, both with hard, fighters' faces, and a memory tickled at him. He looked at Sharpe, at the face that appeared to have a perpetually mocking expression, caused by the scar that ran down the right cheek, and he suddenly remembered. Wild chickens, bird-catchers! The South Essex Light Company. Were these the two men who had captured the Eagle? Who had hacked their way into a French regiment and come out with the standard? He could believe it.

Sharpe watched the Lieutenant's eyes waver and knew that he had won, but it was a victory that would cost him dearly. The army did not look kindly on men who held rifles on provosts, even empty rifles.

Ayres pushed Batten forward. 'Have your thief, Captain. We shall meet again.

Sharpe lowered the rifle. Ayres waited until Batten was clear of the horses, then wrenched the reins and led his men towards Celorico. 'You'll hear from me! His words were flung back. Sharpe could sense the trouble like a boiling, black cloud on the horizon. He turned to Batten.

'Did you steal that bloody hen?

'Yes, sir. Batten flapped a hand after the provost. 'He took it, sir. He made it sound unfair.